World Book Day!

At British International School, HCMC, we recognise the value of reading for pleasure as well as to improve our understanding and command of language, and as an English department we try to engender a love of reading in all our students through lessons, homework and visits to the library. 

World Book Day is an annual celebration of the enjoyment books can give us, and this week is its 20^th anniversary! There will be events going on at schools across the world, including author readings, book quizzes, dressing up as characters and more.

http://www.worldbookday.com

This year at APS we will Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) for one lesson, and every student and teacher will simply read a book they bring in from home or take out from the library for one lesson. DEAR is a popular reminder that reading can be something to enjoy as part of our everyday routine, and is a timely reminder that we also need to make space for it in our busy lives.

http://www.dropeverythingandread.com/NationalDEARday.html

We are also excited to announce that there will be dressing up involved! Yes, the English department have decided to come to school dressed as characters from the hugely popular book ‘Holes’ by Louis Sachar, one of our Y7 class novels, so there will certainly be photographic evidence to mark this special occasion! 

“There is nothing better than a good book, a hot cup of tea and to hunker down into a squash of pillows to escape the humdrum of everyday life into another world. And whilst these worlds, on the surface, may seem so different from our own – we soon realise that our own humanity is spelled out on every page. Anger, despair, love, grief, disappointment, joy: emotions that have spanned literature across the ages and across social and cultural boundaries. It is through reading that we learn more about ourselves and our place in a world where we are, after all, not so very different.” - Ms Meacham

“Reading is my go to for relaxation. There is nothing better than curling up and escaping to another world for an hour or two; that’s why I love fiction so much, you experience things you may never get to in ‘real’ life. It’s also why I get so attached to books, sometimes I read things and never want them to end – what happens to the characters once you’ve read that last page?”- Ms Davies

 “Just imagine all the friends waiting to meet you between the pages of a book; now just imagine a little more - it is the power of your reading that breathes life into them and then you’ll have friends for life. So what are you waiting for? Pick up a book and read!” - Ms Bird

"Outside of a dog, books are a man’s best friend. Inside it’s too dark to read." - Mr Donnelly quoting Groucho Marx.

Andy Bligh, Assistant Head of English